Raina and the Forgotten (Updated Version)

The Time I See Battle-Worn Jesper get Embarassed

Going back in time was like going through a blender, then, reversing it to reform yourself again. It hurt and it felt like I was ripping my self apart. I tried to scream, but my mouth was gone. Particles in the wind. For a second, I just wasn't. Then, I felt myself reforming. Particle by particle returning to a central place and forming me. I realized that we were on a grassy hill. I looked down just in time to see my feet reforming. I looked over and saw Ryan reforming as well.

The world we were in was completely different. The sun felt good on my skin, not like it was trying to burn me. I could smell the freshly cut grass under me. I heard a chirping sound that was almost like singing. I spun around to find a strange looking plant that was blue. It looked like there were feathers like the ones that occasionally grew on Ryan's back. I realized that it was a bird. An animal. It suddenly flew off.
Ryan chuckled behind me, then started to laugh. He laughed so hard I was afraid he would fall over. He started to subside and said in between chuckles, "Welcome to life before the Burning. That was a blue bird. Remember your studies with Jesper about this time period and you will be fine."
Jesper had taught me about the world before the Burning. He explained what animals were, and how plants grew above ground and usually grew without cultivation. He taught me about the culture and the people. I was scared that we would look like aliens to the people here because the Burning changed us as well, but Ryan didn't seem concerned.
I saw a white missile in the distance and it was coming towards us fast. I looked at Ryan and said, "Missile, twelve o clock, take cover."
I ducked and so did Ryan. I rolled until I was slightly off the hill. There was no cover here. Just an expansion of grass. I looked over and Ryan was crouching by the white missile. What was he doing? That could be a bomb. He got up and laughed again. He came over to me and said, "Relax Raina. We are not under attack. I guess we arrived in a golf field."
He smiled and helped me up. I remembered a little about golf. I nodded and was feeling foolish.
Ryan looked at me and said, "Don't worry. It will take you a while to understand this world. We should get out of here. We need to disguise our battle suits."
Our battle suits were skin tight and could turn into any type of clothes. As long as it had something to represent. It wouldn't work if you just imagined something up.
Ryan took the lead as we ran off the hill. As we ran, I saw a small town in the distance. It was about five miles away from here. We would probably get there in forty minutes if we kept this pace. We were in fighting condition so running for a while wasn't a problem.
We passed the time in silence. It was good. I needed to think and to have time to look around and comprehend this world. I saw trees and hills and flowers. Squirrels were fascinating and the birds came in all different colors. It was amazing.

We got to the town quickly. The sun was almost in the middle of the sky and there were only a few clouds in the sky. The clouds were completely white, which was defiantly weird. When we reached the first house, Ryan slipped into a hidden spot. I did the same. Apparently, Ryan didn't want us to be seen. We traveled through the shadows and in between houses until we got into the downtown area. Jesper said that this was where the main part of trading went on.
Ryan snuck towards a two story building and went into an alleyway. I followed him and saw that he was trying a back door. When he found out that it was locked, he grabbed his metallic clay. He slid a little into the lock and pressed a button on his suit. I knew that that button turned the clay into liquid. He quickly pressed another button that turned it solid. He grabbed the but that was sticking out and pulled it out. He had made a perfect impression of a key. He put it back into the lock and turned it. The door slid open. He quickly snuck in, and I followed him.
It looked like we were in a storage locker. There were tons of different clothes everywhere. Then the door shut behind me and we were surrounded in darkness. I tapped the side of my head and my battle suit quickly constructed my night vision helmet. I looked over at Ryan. He had done the same thing and signaled me to stay here. He walked off to have a look around.
After a minute, the lights turned on. My helmet digitized back into my suit. Ryan walked back and said, "Have a quick look around. Scan some three or four different types of clothes and then we will get out of here." I nodded. I walked around looking at the different clothes. They were either in boxes or had plastic on them. I was able to scan quite a few. I didn't have to worry about size or if they would fit. The battle suite automatically did that for me.
I met back with Ryan by the door we had come through. I had picked out a pair of jeans with a purple top and a brown zip-up sweatshirt. I had sneakers on, but no jewelry. Ryan had picked out jeans, nice shoes, and a white and light brown button down shirt. He left and turned off the lights and we made our way out. Back on the street we started walking like everyone else. They didn't seem to notice us.
Ryan said, "We will need to find a place to stay, and enroll you into the school here. That will be your best chance at finding Tanner and Addison. I am going to become a teacher there. Do you remember our cover?" I nodded. He was to be my dad, and a teacher.

We got to the school quickly. We walked in and Ryan stepped to the front desk. He started talking to the woman at the desk. Asking if he could enroll me here, and if there were any opening jobs. He talked like he had lived here all his life. Which, he probably did live here once. I looked into the hallway and saw a bunch of people my age walking around. It was strange to see so many people my age. Before now, I had only seen one or two people who had been my age.
Then I saw him. My dad. Walking down the hall. He was younger bloodless battle worn. He didn't have any scars and I couldn't feel that underlining tiredness that was in my dad. Some behind him said, " Jesper, it's this way." He looked back and looked totally embarrassed. Then quickly ran the other way. He was so unsure of himself that he was embarrassed at going the wrong way?I was baffled for a second. Then Ryan called me over to meet the lady at the desk.
She smiled politely and asked a few question. Then we were on our way. Ryan said that he had his interview job later that day. I would start school tomorrow. For now, I could see more of the town.